


Fairytale of "Hyde"

by blueteak



Category: Life on Mars
Genre: Gen, M/M, Unusual customs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-08
Updated: 2012-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-29 05:23:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/316274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueteak/pseuds/blueteak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That sounded a little better. Well, still odd. And Sam had a voice meant for silent film. But at least it didn’t sound like a domestic dispute disguised as a Christmas carol any longer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fairytale of "Hyde"

**Author's Note:**

> Italicized parts from The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York." Song contains ref to drug use and slurs. Originally posted to lifein1973 for Advent Calendar Day 6.

  
Gene stopped himself seconds before breaking down Sam’s door.

There were voices coming from the flat. It sounded like Sam was speaking to someone who was actually there instead of shouting at the telly as usual.

Wait. Not speaking. Singing.

 _So Happy Christmas  
I love you baby  
I can see a better time  
When all our dreams come true_

“Sam!” Cartwright’s voice, pleased. “Did you write this?”

Gene had to press his ear to the door to hear Sam’s reply. He absolutely refused to think about how foolish he might look at the moment.

“No, Annie….It’s a song we used to sing around this time of year at the pub back home.”

“Back in Hyde?” Annie asked so softly Gene could barely make it out.

“Yeah. Hyde.”

“And you sang it with….?” A few of the birds Gene had grown up with would’ve sounded jealous asking a question like that. Cartwright didn’t.

“My D--” A hesitation. “My girlfriend. We had it memorized. Used to sing it for C-Division’s holiday ‘do at the local, at least in the first years we were together.”

It sounded like papers were being shuffled. “I see. Does C-Division Hyde have a New York fetish?”

Easy laughter. Gene could just picture the grin Sam was wearing now.

“Does seem like it, doesn’t it? Let’s start again here. And Annie…thanks for singing this with me. I know it’s strange, but it’s making me feel less homesick.”

Gene didn’t hear anything for a few moments after that.

And then Cartwright: _“You were handsome”_

Sam: _“You were pretty”_

And then the both of them:

 _Queen of New York City  
When the band finished playing  
They howled out for more_

“Sam? What kind of Christmas song is this to sing with your girlfriend?”

Gene was wondering the same thing from the other side of the door. Maybe Sam wasn’t a poof. Maybe his taste in music just drove women away. After that T-Rex song Sam had subjected him to, Gene could believe it.

 _The boys of the NYPD Choir  
Were singing ‘Galway Bay’  
And the bells were ringing out  
For Christmas day_

That sounded a little better. Well, still odd. And Sam had a voice meant for silent film. But at least it didn’t sound like a domestic dispute disguised as a Christmas carol any longer.

 _“You’re a bum”_

 _“You’re a punk”_

 _“You’re an old slut on junk”_

Gene had apparently revised his opinion of the ‘carol’ too quickly.

“You and your girlfriend aren’t together any longer, are you?”

“No.”

“I see.”

More shuffling of papers. A gasp and a giggle. “Sam, are you sure you don’t want to sing this with the Guv?”

“I’d like to keep both my kidneys in good working order, Annie, thank you. Though I can see how you’d think:

 _You scumbag  
You maggot  
You cheap lousy faggot  
Happy Christmas your arse  
I pray God it’s our last_

sounds like the two of us having it out, but this next part:

 _You took my dreams from me  
When I first found you_

 _I kept them with me babe  
I put them with my own  
Can’t make it all alone  
I’ve built my dreams around you_

I don’t know, could you honestly see me singing that part with the Guv at The Railway Arms?”

A brief pause. “Not at the Arms, no….But I could picture you singing it with him here. And I can see parts of it being true. If either of you could admit to having dreams that aren’t nightmares in your case or about Shelley Winters’ bottom in his.”

“Annie….”

“All right, all right. I’ll let it be. Let’s try the chorus again. I want to get the rhythm right.”

For the first time in ages, Gene retreated. It wasn’t really absolutely necessary to bring Sam in to the office tonight.

If Cartwright could see it…and Sam hadn’t launched a full-scale protest….It was too much to take in right now. However. However, the last few days of 1973 might prove to be very interesting indeed.  



End file.
